During the unrest sweeping across the Middle East and North Africa, social networking sites have become forums for pro-revolutionary forces to gather information and support for their causes. But while the rebels and their supporters have gained ground, they’ve had to contend with pro-government forces staking their claim in the virtual sphere as well. Jillian York, Project Coordinator for the OpenNet Initiative at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, wrote a piece about Syriabotting in yesterday’s edition of The Guardian. Anas Qteish, a Syrian blogger based in Boston says he’s been spammed repeatedly by pro-government ‘forces’ in the past few weeks.
The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.